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Thursday, July 2, 2009

Mature Bull On Winslow Hill 2005: Viewed by thousands of elk watchers,he was killed in Hunt Zone 2on the first day of the November elk season.

In Pennsylvania, the hunting license year runs from the first of July to the end of the following June, so in most cases seasons are finalized by this time and one has a relatively clear picture of what is planned for the coming year.

The Elk regulations, and allocations are now published in the 2009 Pennsylvania Hunting AndTrapping Digest, which is received when one purchases a license or may be viewed and downloaded from the Agency's website.

There are significant changes in this years' elk season. One addressed an issue, which was discussed in depth in "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd" a 2 hr.-42 min. film, which discussed the recent history of Pennsylvania's Elk Herd along with giving the viewer a close-up view of the life cycle of the elk. The film closed with a section detailing many of the problems facing the herd today.

It was initially stated that hunting pressure would be directed at areas of elk-human conflict and away from the tourist areas on Winslow Hill.

Hunters were required to hunt in the management unit for which they drew tags and the number of tags issued per unit was fairly conservative, but management plans were disregarded when hunters who had difficulty locating elk in their assigned hunting area, were permitted to hunt in other management zones.

No Hunt Zone Denoted In RedNote: Hand Generated Maps illustrate the general situation and are not accurate as to scale or small details of terrain and boundary lines.

The official Game Commission Harvest map that year shows that much of the kill, tightly encircled the No Hunt Zone.

This situation was bad enough, but the real blow fell in 2005 when hunt zones 1,2,3, and 10 were combined. While they were still listed as separate physical entities, the tags were issued with the stipulation that the hunter could utilize any of the four hunt zones. As a result, anyone who held a tag for any of the four combined hunt zones was able to hunt in Zone 2. In addition one had to consider the elk that were killed in Hunt Zone 8, as it too was home to many of the large bulls that visited the viewing areas on Winslow Hill.

2005 Elk Hunt Zones

In the 2008 season it was possible that 7 bulls and 16 cows could be killed in the combined Hunt Zones 1,2,3,10. In addition Hunt Zones 7 and 8 were combined with 5 bull and 7 antlerless tags being issued. This meant in theory that 12 bulls and 23 cows could be killed close to the No Hunt Zone. It is not likely that this actually happened and the kill was somewhat more dispersed, but the problem was that it did permit elk hunters to target many of the large bulls that frequented the viewing areas.

During the rut, bulls may travel long distances to visit the traditional mating grounds on Winslow Hill and then spend the rest of the year in other areas, but a substantial number do remain nearby. The film covers this aspect by showing several examples of large bulls that were acclimated to humans and would not have been killed had there been a somewhat larger no hunt zone.

According to the 2009-2010 Hunting Regulations, the combined areas have been eliminated so that 2 bulls and 7 antlerless elk may be taken in Hunt Zone 2, and 2 bulls and 6 antlerless elk may be taken in Hunt Zone 8.

A Portion Of Elk Hunt Zone 2

While this does not preserve as high of a proportion of mature bulls as the plan presented in "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd", which advocated an enlarged No Hunt, or Population Control Hunt Only Zone, it is a great improvement over the combined zones. In brief instead of 12 bulls being possible targets in Zones 2 and 8, now a maximum of four will be targeted creating the potential for as many as 8 more bulls to survive near the major elk viewing areas.

Young Bull Elk Hunt Zone 2

Did "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd" influence this decision? I don't know, but if it did, it makes the effort all worthwhile.

In spite of this positive action, there are still issues that need addressed, which I hope to cover in the future.

9 comments:

Hello Willard. I do think your video did some good. Sometimes this is what it takes to get people to sit up and take notice or to get off their butts and do something instead of just talking about it. Elk (and wildlife) management is crucial in some areas and many people do not realize its importance. If certain species are to survive for the generation to come, there must be rules regulating the hunting of them.

I simply love you “Close and personal” encounter!! How absolutely wonderful that the doe is so relaxed with you about! I have noticed this before in areas where there is not a lot of hunting done, the animals get used to your presence after a while when they see you are not a threat. These are experience which will always live with you and make life worthwhile don’t you think?

I am sure your work influenced this decision. Thank you for updating us on the changes in an "easy to understand" manner. As you continue to cover issues that still need addressed, I'm sure you will help to bring about even more changes. Thank you for all you do in helping to protect our wildlife friends.

I'm back again to say it certainly was a great day for you yesterday... I've just been over at Saltys and seen the news.. I wish the lovely couple all the very best Willard... you and your wife must be asproud as punch :O)Tom

I enjoy looking at your photos and my wife and I enjoy visiting Benezette and photographing the elk. I have been a hunter for over 45 years (and I am deeply involved in the firearms industry), but what PA calls an Elk Hunting Season is anything but a hunting season. The elk in PA regardless of where you see them are acclimated to humans and have not developed a healthy fear of humans as the deer have.

I think your film did some good and we need to do more to convince the Game Commission that other means of population control is needed versus leading the public to believe that the elk season provides "elk hunting". I at least wish that the TV stations would avoid filming the "hunts" that certainly would cause those that do not hunt to just have more examples to share on why they do not believe in hunting.

Ordering Information

Information on "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd" and ordering information for both this film and the new production, "Running Wild In Pennsylvania Elk Country"

Contains sample footage and ordering information.ClickHere to read more, or to order.

Wildlife Video Clips by W.Hill, on Vimeo: Click thumbnail to view large clip

Photo Book By Marci Geise

Marci Geise has published a book of photographs from Pennsylvania Elk Country, "Elk Scenic Drive". Click Here for purchasing information and to preview the book. In Elk County, "Elk Scenic Drive" is available exclusively at Benezett Store.

Guide To Photographing Elk In Pennsylvania

http://www.floralphoto.us/guidetophotographingelk Click here for important information about photographing the Pennsylvania elk herd. Written by Paul Staniszewski

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About Me

A graduate of Shippensburg University, I retired from the PA Game Commission in 2007 after many years as a Maintenance Worker, Maintenance Supervisor, and Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer.
I have been interested in wildlife photography since 1974, and cinematography since 1990 and
have been published in Bugle Magazine, Pennsylvania Magazine, The PA Game Commission Calendar, and have released two documentary films, "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd" and "Running Wild In Pennsylvania Elk Country". I also provided a significant portion of the footage for The Elk Country Visitor Center's theater presentation. Most of the wildlife footage other than elk was shot by me and I also shot a substantial portion of the elk footage including the tremendous bull fight at the end.
I use the Canon 5D MK III, 70D, and 7D DSLRS with a battery of L lenses for still photography, For video, I have a Canon XL-H1 fitted with a nanoFlash, but it is seldom used any more and I have mostly switched to Panasonic mirror-less cameras for this purpose. My current front line video acquisition tool is the GH4, but I have the GH3 and GH2 also and use them when the need arises.